Identity Theft Facts

Updated October 2007

Identity Theft Defined

Federal Trade Commission (ftc.gov): "Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes."

U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Fraud Section: "Identity theft and identity fraud are terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain."

Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act of 1998: "Identity theft is a criminal offense. It occurs when a person knowingly transfers or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit or to aid or abet any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of federal law or that constitutes a felony under any applicable state or local law." US Code Title 18 Part 1 Chapter 47 §1028(a)(7)

California Penal Code section 530.5: "It is a felony in California to use the personal identifying information of another person without the authorization of that person for any unlawful purpose including to obtain credit, goods, services, or medical information."

Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA): The term “identity theft” means a fraud committed using the identifying information of another person, subject to such further definition as the [Federal Trade Commission] may prescribe, by regulation. US Code Title 15 Chapter 41 Subchapter III 15 §1681a(q)(3)

Javelin Strategy: "Identity fraud - the unauthorized use of another’s personal information to achieve illicit financial gain. Identity fraud can occur without identity theft. For example, it can occur with relatives who are given access to personal information or by the use of randomly generated payment card numbers. Identity theft - the unauthorized access to personal information. Identity theft can occur without identity fraud. For example, it can occur with large scale data breaches." 2007 Identity Fraud Survey Report

Identity Theft Statistics

Gartner survey, March 2007 (link)

  • Approximately 15 million Americans were victimized by some sort of identity-theft related fraud in the 12 months ending in mid-2006
  • The average loss was $3,257 in 2006

Javelin Research, 2007 Identity Fraud Survey, February 2007 (link)

  • 3.7 percent of US adult population were victims, as compared to 4.0 percent in 2005.
  • In terms of total dollars, identity fraud in the dropped by an estimated 12 percent over the previous year, from $55.7 billion to $49.3 billion.
  • Young adults ages 18-24 are at the greatest risk for identity fraud

"There's so many stolen identities in criminals hands that identity theft could easily rise 20 times."
Thomas Harkins, COO of Edentify, former director Mastercard fraud division, USA Today October 12, 2006

Javelin Research, 2006 Identity Fraud Survey

  • In 2005, 8.9 million American adults (4.0% of US adult population) became victims of identity fraud.
  • The average fraud amount per victim increased 21.6% to $6,383 since 2003.
  • The annual amount of identity fraud is $56.6 billion, a 6.4% increase from 2003.
  • The average resolution time for resolving fraud cases has increased from 33 hours in 2003 to 40 hours in 2006.

FTC, 2005 Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data, January 2006

  • The most common forms of identity theft
    • Credit card fraud (26%)
    • Phone or utilities fraud (18%)
    • Bank fraud (17%)
    • Employment fraud (12%)
    • Government documents/benefits fraud (9%)
    • Loan fraud (5%).
  • The top 10 metropolitan areas for identity theft complaints (per capita) were Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale AZ, Las Vegas-Paradise NV, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario CA, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana CA, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach FL, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA, Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land TX, San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos CA, San Antonio TX.

Bureau of Justice Statistics, Identity Theft 2004 report, April 2006

  • One in 16 households experienced identity theft over a 12 month period in 2004 (3.1% in the first 6 months)
  • One-third of households that were identity theft victims discovered the loss by noticing missing money or unfamiliar charges on an account, and about one-quarter were contacted by a credit bureau.
  • The estimated loss over 12 months was about $6.4 billion.
  • About two-thirds of the households said they lost money. The average loss was $1,290.
  • About one-quarter of all victimized households said the misuse had not stopped.
  • One-third of the victimized households experienced one or more problems caused by identity theft. The most common problem was being contacted by a debt collector (34 percent), followed by problems with bank accounts (31 percent) and credit cards (26 percent).

"In a recent national survey of homeowners, 12% reported having been casualties of identity theft…A separate survey recently found that Americans are more concerned about becoming a victim of identity theft than they are of losing their job."
Wayne Abernathy, Asst. US Treasury Secretary, May 2003

Federal Trade Commission Survey 2003

  • 9.9 million Americans (4.6% of adult population) became victims between mid 2002 and mid 2003.1
  • 27 million Americans were victimized between 1999 and 2003
  • Identity theft incidents rose 41% between 2002 and 2003
  • Identity theft losses in 2002 estimated at $53 billion ($5 billion by individuals, $48 billion by businesses)

GAO Study on Cost of Investigations, March 2002

A study by the GAO on ID theft said the Secret Service estimates the average cost of a financial crime investigation is $15,000 while the FBI estimate comes in at $20,000.

Identity Theft, Credit Freeze, and Data Breach Laws

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) have pages dedicated to federal and state laws. Consumers Union has a page with information on credit freeze and data/security breach laws.


1 Note this survey is where the notoriously misused 10 million victim number comes from.